Tom VH: Shaun Crawford to visit Miami (YTM)
I hear ya, I want the same, but you have to be realistic. The offensive line is young and is going to continue to be young. There's nothing you can do to make the offensive line all 4th and 5th year guys. Instead they're all 1st, 2nd, and 3rd year guys, and one 4th year guy. It just takes time. Granted, Borges' system did not help, but hopefully Nuss' will. But, time should fix it...I'm not sure much else will.
I think it's very unrealistic to ask a team built like that to beat a top 10 team in OSU or MSU on the road (ND seems more beatable IMO). OSU is going to have an incredible d-line and seems the least beatable right now to me. Unless the defense can shut down the other team it's gonna be a difficult task. If they show improvement and cohesion however, there's no reason to think they can't beat those teams at home in 2015.
What you're saying makes sense if you believe the o-line problems last year were due primarily to youth/underdevelopment. I wouldn't say that didn't play any role, but comparing the ND, CMU, and OSU games to the middle of the season had me scratching my head a bit. Looking back after learning of AB's over-scheming, combined with frequent, questionable play-calling, I saw an o-line (entire offense even) that struggled with that, started to lose confidence, and that vicious cycle just snowballed. Speculation aside as to what transpired to produce the offensive performance in The Game, that did have us all shaking our heads as to what the season could have been.
I don't think we have to write-off the first half of the 2014 season as some necessary development process for the o-line, because I don't think that is the problem. I am a big fan of the Nuss hire, and I think, among other things, that the relative simplicity of his offense is a big difference maker. There's talent on this team. It's a new system, so I'm not expecting them to hit the ground in full stride, but I think they may be able to keep it to a slight stumble, with no fall, and they could even pull it together by the ND game. Regardless of the start, we should see steady improvement through the season - you know, what you would normally expect.
On another note, I think Peppers will have a (potentially huge) positive effect on this team - beyond the anticipated impact of his play. He seems a natural, charismatic leader. He brings a serious work ethic (contagious), and reputedly will call out those who don't. He backs it up on the field. Hoke talks alot about accountability, and here's a kid who embodies it. A guy like that can raise everybody's level of play. It's as much a mental game as physical.
While I agree with what you're saying about Peppers ability, charisma, and leadership it's really difficult for true freshman to be leaders. The hardest part about a true freshman being a leader is they must have the support of the upperclassman. That is hard to do because it typically takes true freshman to make an impact on the field in order to gain the respect of the upperclassman. That's part of the difficulty with last year's team IMO is because there were so many young guys and there seemed to be a disconnect between the upperclassman and the younger guys. Although the younger guys may have been more talented they may not have proven themselves yet. This year older guys like Ryan, Morgan, Clark, and Countess who have been grinding it out for years may not take kindly to a true freshman coming in and telling them how it should be done, especially at a place like UM where tradition and seniority is valued. So, although I think Peppers will make an impact it's hard to really lead and call out others, especially upperclassman, until he's proven himself as an impact player on the field. Unless he makes an immediate impact with big plays that will be hard to do, at least in the beginning of the year. I think he has to impact the team with his attitude and play and grow into a leadership in the following years, but that's just me.
makes huge statement when you not only show up to workouts every day and sweat to get better and learn um system/culture but also aim to not allow a single pass to be completed against you. everyone can lead and take ownership in their own way, and obviously some more than others. challenging WRs to mortal combat every day in practice goes a long way. i just really hope they can look competent enough on O and allow peppers to showcase his natural abilities from day 1 - prospects watching the #1 recruit make significant impact early and announcers chirping peppers name really can help image. but 27 for 27 negates any positives and simply cannot happen again
I remember when only good things were supposed to happen in 2014.
Unfollowed Crawf earlier. Way ahead of you guys.
That'll show him!!!
You probably deserve medals for your courage and devotion!
I still DM all of our recruits and players on the team everyday!! Buncha fairweather stalkers
There's only 24 hours in a day. What do you want from me?!
The way some people act on here seems like we might not reach 100k fans at the game all year...there has been at least 5 ticket threads with complaints and people claiming they aren't buying tickets
Why does it matter if they are white? Are old black or hispanic people somehow different?
Have you watched a Miami game in the last 5 years. The stadium is half empty.
I honestly think this will happen with recruiting across the board. Recruiting wasn't a business before, it just served a purpose (to recruit guys to schools) and no one really knew any of these guys - unless one was from your hometown or a few of the big-time names - until signing day when there was some sort of release, but even then you didn't know much. This led to far less monkey business with recruits because no one knew about it.
Then the pendulum swung the other way and recruiting became huge. For many recruits, they were a bigger deal to fans as recruits than they ever would be as players. Guys did their announcements at press conferences or on TV, they push for fans to follow them on twitter, and plenty of other stuff. Now, though, fans are tiring of the monkey business, so I think the recruiting bubble will burst soon. It won't go back to the way it was, but it will go down to 70% or so of what it is now. Because lots of people have the opinion you have.
Disagree with LA on recruiting bubbles bursting. It will continue on - the reason people here are down is because of the program and the decommits and misses. Just a few years ago we were lauding the 2012 class with glee as we were coming off a good record in 2011 and the future looked so bright. If our program was competing for Big 10 titles and hell NCs we'd be so into recruiting we'd be a main cause of said bubble. But because it has been like Groundhog Day around here for 7 years - whatever the coaches, whatever the recruits, whatever the players ...always similar mediocre results (save for 2011), the bubble is bursting here. On OSU and MSU boards the bubble is full tilt and while I dont go to any PSU boards I am sure they are in full NASDAQ 1999 over there.
If you have a great program you are very interested in this stuff - if your program is mediocre the hardcore guys stay interested, the rest of the people will lose some interest. It's the 5 stages of grief and as I wrote last fall sometime in that putrid late October/mid November stage.... a lot of people have finally moved on from anger and bargaining to acceptance. Being hardcore about recruiting is when you are still in the denial and anger phases. Or just wear maize glasses.
Bottom line - if the team was elite the focus on recruiting here would be higher than ever.
This is going to be the story until we win on the field... Hate to say it.
Crawford is my favorite player in the class, but I can't bring myself to care. It's not surprising anymore.
Give me the Crawford's and Peppers' and you take your team of passion.
You need both. Army and Navy play their hearts out and have more chemistry than anyone in the country...they're usually not very good.
But if we want to better lock kids up, we need to see results on the field, and that starts on August 30th. If we have more 7-6 and 8-5 seasons, expect to see a lot more of this. That "we have a ton of tradition" schpeel doesn't really work like the "we've won championships in the past decade" schpeel works.
if we go 8- 4. will have a new coach in 2015 . so things will be changing alot with commitments. unless we wait till after feb for the new coach. its looking more n more likely there be a new coach in 2015. one of the harbaughs. we have to win 2 out of the 3 big games to keep his job
I'm sure I saw someone (TomVH, Sam Webb or someone else) tweet that he first said he was going to visit Ohio. I believe Miami will be the third school he mentioned he was visiting.
his ship is gone now . new db commitment in a week. bye bye
In its simplest terms, it seems like although the policy is that if a recruit does something like this then they will start recruiting that spot on the list, that spot in this case is still Crawford's if he is indeed coming here. For the time being, it seems safe to say that he is likely coming to Ann Arbor despite this recent development, but there is time yet of course.
well, next 4 star db your up . ship is yours now for the taking .
Meh.
Michigan doesn't have the fresh, new promise it did a few years back. They'll still recruit well but definitely need a return to elite on-field performance to firmly hold on to elite prospects. And even then, they'll have issues. It's just the nature of recruiting teenagers.
One thing I still believe is that Hoke is a great coach and will turn things around. Bo had tough years. Lloyd had down years. They were given time and are legends. I think with a little patience Hoke will earn his keep.
That was '84 because of injuries. Bo came in and won the Big 10 and went to a Rose Bowl in his first season and had excellent teams top 10 teams through the 70s! Carr had his two 4 loss seasons before he went undefeated. Under Hoke we have went 11-2 in 2011, 7-5 in 2012 and 8-6 in 2013. Not a very good trend! I'm concerned. I could see us going 8-6 once again. I hope not!
You are right. Bo may have had some tough bowl game losses---but only one such season. Carr had great years in 1997 and 2006---the rest of the time kinda Lloyd-Carr-like--underwhelming, but no real down year.
It's going to be unfun till then